Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert
Reader Questions:
Add Modifier 24 For Treatment Discussion During Global
Published on Wed Sep 22, 2010 
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Question:
Answer: Since you are within the surgical global, you should report the appropriate office visit code, such as 99215 (Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of an established patient ...). This visit is not a postoperative follow up examination related to the previous surgical procedure so you can report the E/M service. You'll be billing based on time, so since the documentation states 55 minutes, 99215 is the best code to use.
Caveat:
You need to append modifier 24 (Unrelated evaluation and management service by the same physician during a postoperative period) to your E/M code.Other Articles in this issue of
Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert
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